Ulterior Motives
by AristocraticAssassinLover
Summary: Everything was fine. I was juggling my school life and feudal life perfectly. My grades were up. My friends love me, but most importantly the love of my life finally got his act together. But c’mon people I’m Kagome, nothing steady in my life ever stays..
1. Chapter 1: Poison

**A/N: Ok people some of you might kill me and others might cheer but I'm back with another story. This one is based on a challenge. I've never done one before and decided I might try. Well on to the necessities…**

**Summary:**

Everything was fine. I was juggling my school life and feudal life perfectly. My grades were up. My friends love me, but most importantly the love of my life finally got his act together. But c'mon people I'm Kagome, nothing steady in my life ever stays that way…

**Sesshomaru****[X****Kagome**

**No lemons for me, fluff yes but no lemons, sorry!**

And of course…

**Disclaimer:**

Inuyasha and his characters belong to the one and only **Rumiko Takahashi** And there WILL be some characters that are SIMILAR in other fanfiction simply for the reason I couldn't think of enough so they also belong to their **respectful authors** (hopefully I do them justice if you have a problem with them in my story simply tell me and I will somehow think of another and change it there will not be many and most will only have a similar name and in will no way match their personality) but any other characters I claim as my **own** and rightfully do so!!

**Ok now for the challenge information…**

**Challenge Label:** Legerdemain

**Author: **Aiwendil Amaurea

**There is more information about the challenge on the author's page.**

**Well now that, that's out of the way we're onto the story.**

**

* * *

Ulterior Motives**

**Written By: **AristocraticAssassinLover

**Chapter 1: **Poison

* * *

"Oh Inuyasha, I'm so glad we finally have everything worked out. It's so nice to just lay here with you under the stars." Kagome let out a wistful sigh from her position. She had a blanket spread out in the clearing of the bone eater's well, with Inuyasha sitting crossed legged on it and Kagome laying down with her head in his lap. 

"Keh." He grunted out but otherwise stayed quiet. The light dusting of pink on his cheeks gave away his real thoughts though.

She looked up at his face, "You do like spending time with me right?" Her eyes narrowed. His answer was immediate but not untruthful, "yeah. Of course."

It was gruff but it was a start. They were definitely headed in the right direction.

They lay like that under the moon for many hours, Kagome having long since fallen asleep. Inuyasha had taken to stroking her soft raven locks while he thought about his life.

It was going better than he could have ever asked for.

He was leader of his own little pack however rag-tag they might be. He was known by many being around Japan, be they demon, human or hanyou. But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing because most if not all of them had nice things to say about him, some of them more hesitant to give praise than others.

But that wasn't the point.

He had finally put the whole Kikyo incident behind him. With a little help from all his friends and the support of even those who weren't in his tight nit circle he had decided that what happens in the past, stays in the past. Besides he had found the little loophole in his promise.

He had promised to always protect Kikyo. But Kikyo was dead and living off of Kagome's and possibly hundreds of other young women's souls, so technically Kikyo was Kagome, along with all of the other souls. So if she wasn't really Kikyo then his promise was void.

Not like he was disappointed about that.

The Kikyo he knew now was nothing like the Kikyo he knew years ago. She was cold and unfeeling. But her eyes…they were empty, for the most part. Almost always the only feeling they gave away was pure hatred, for him or someone else he knew not. But that didn't matter either. Nobody had heard or seen Kikyo in well over a year, so for all he knew she could be dead. Not very optimistic but it helped to keep his thoughts focused on Kagome.

On rare occasions he would think about her, but most of the time Kagome occupied all of his thoughts. He wasn't _exactly_ sure what this whole love thing was, but he was pretty sure that he felt something akin to it about Kagome.

And Kagome. Kagome was the most loyal, loving, trusting, dutiful….you get the point. She was prefect in every sense. She was a spitfire always ready to prove you wrong, no matter how trivial the subject might be. But then she was so understanding and knew when to just let thing lie. She was powerful in her own right. Even more so know that she had undergone rigorous training by Kagome and a visiting miko from a village to the North. She had the capabilities to put up barriers that would put Naraku's barriers to shame. Her aim was always dead-on but now she could channel her energy through almost anything.

There was that one time that Shippo was about to be eaten by a boar demon and she had slammed her fist into the ground and all had watched as her powers traveled through the ground and purified the demon before Shippo could even open his mouth to scream.

She was so powerful yet knew when to let him protect her. He wasn't stupid sometimes he knew she might be more adapt at protecting him, but hell would freeze over, melt and then have a freak tundra storm before he would admit that to her. Her abilities rivaled that of Midoriko but he still felt the need to protect and she always let him handle the issues, ready to lend a hand at anytime. It made him feel…useful…

And just to add to all of that, she was breathtakingly beautiful. Over the years she had matured, her young, underdeveloped fifteen year old body, filling out in all the right places into a stunning nineteen year old look. She was still so young but you would never know it by looking at her. Not that she was old…she just had that look, like she was wise beyond her years.

So for a dirty half-breed he had it pretty damn good.

"mmm…Stop evil quadrilaterals…no match…Inuyasha…." Kagome mumbled in her sleep. Inuyasha recognized it as another nightmare about some kind of test. She usually had them right before she had to go back to her time for another one of those exams or whatever. He wouldn't say anything until she brought it up. He rather liked their little squabbles before she went home. It gave him some kind of excitement seeing her red in the face with those determinded blue eyes with a fierce fire burning in them.

He never truly was set on making her stay here, at least not now. He knew she had a life on the other side and if things didn't work out here she needed somewhere else to turn to. He couldn't destroy her only home if something bad were to ever happen here.

She didn't have to take those tests as often now anyways. She said something about going to 'college' and taking classes that didn't count attendance. She would just get a 'syllabus' and study or something like that. He didn't really understand it and didn't care. She was here most of the time and that's all that mattered.

All of a sudden Kagome shot up, surprised he started back a bit.

"Inuyasha to the East of here, three jewel shards and they're closing in on us." He was up and ready to go as soon as she had said jewel shards.

"Then what are you waiting for, go and tell Sango and the monk to hurry up, they reek of Naraku." She nodded and sprinted towards the village silently giving him encouragement to face whatever demons they were this time. Everytime they came they seemed to get more and more stronger.

But she was worried, her Inuyasha could handle anything.

* * *

Three demons burst into the clearing, big, tall, and ugly. The tallest one of the three looked more human than the others. They were all wearing rags that had blood stains all over them. All three of them had dark, dark skin almost black and beady, red eyes, like little incarnations of the devil himself. 

"What do you want here demons?" Inuyasha barked out slowly circling away from the well, so that when the fight started it wouldn't be destroyed.

"We are here for the young priestess with the shards of the shikon jewel. Surrender her and you will be spared." The tallest of them spoke, clearly the leader. His voice was dark and reminded him of nightmares he would have when he was little. He gave a little shudder but nothing else gave away that he was even the least bit intimidated by these monsters.

"Like hell I will!" Inuyasha charged at them with his sword raised high ready to release the Kaze no Kizu-1 when Hiraikotsu flew through the air and took one of the smaller demons arms off. With a cry of pain all three of them turned to the fire neko soaring through the air with a monk and a demon slayer perched on top.

Cursing audibly about how stupid humans need to let him take care of monsters he started once again on the three when he heard a scream.

More precisely a scream that sounded exactly like Kagome.

* * *

Kagome had been carrying Shippo with her bow and arrows on her back and most recently a sword on her hip, towards the battle. Being sure to stick to the shadows, to make sure that no other demons would follow, they had enough on their hands already. 

So preoccupied with getting to Inuyasha she never noticed the snake demon that curled around her ankle and pulled it out from under her.

Screaming more from the habit of being surprised than anything else, she let Shippo go.

"Go to Inuyasha and the others, I can handle him." Shippo knew better than to question and took off. Kicking to try and buck the demon off her legs, she noticed that it too also had a jewel shard at the tip of its tail. She couldn't see well, as it was still dark but the jewel shard was at least four yards away meaning this was a pretty big snake. Pulling an arrow from her quiver disregarding the bow she thrust it into the part closest to her arm.

The snake let of a painful hiss and unwrapped from her. From the faint moonlight shining from the trees she saw parts of it curl in on itself. Remembering from science class the signs of a coiled snake she threw up a barrier just as it launched itself at her neck. She made sure to charge the barrier with holy energy and its head disintegrated the moment it touched the shield of purifying energy. Then like a chain reaction the energy spread from its head all the way to the tip of its tail.

As soon as it was gone she followed the glow of the shard and hurried to pick it up and pocket it in her fighting gear. She had decided to dress much like Sango these days, as it was so much easier to fight without having to bother to keep your legs closed.

Rushing back to the others silently glad that there were no other stragglers she gasped at the mess surrounding her.

She noticed that the fight had moved considerably far from the well which she would kiss Inuyasha later for that, but everyone looked to be fighting with everything they had, although no one was making any progress. The demons although huge, their speed was not impaired at all. They were quick and light on their toes striking at her friends and then pulling out of firing range before anyone had a chance to raise their weapons.

Sango along with Miroku had taken to fighting on the ground rather than the air, because Kirara couldn't get out of range fast enough in the sky. Sango was currently fighting off one of the smaller demons with her sword and hidden dagger, no doubt because they had repeatedly dodged Hiraikostu. One seemed to be missing an arm, but other than a steady flow of blood loss he was fighting just fine with his other arm. Miroku was fighting with charged ofudas and his staff as everyone could hear the steady buzzing of the Saimyoushou in the background.

The other smaller demon was ganging up on Inuyasha along with the biggest of the three while he tried to beat them back. They were attacking in intervals so every time he parried one the other was right behind him, and was getting nowhere fast. He couldn't use his Kaze no Kizu because everyone was scattered all over the field and even by mistake he might take one of his allies down along with the enemy.

Deciding that Sango and Miroku had it easier right now she headed over to Inuyasha. Spotting Shippo hiding in a bush on the way by she nodded to him and told him to stay there. She stood on a slightly inclined piece of land and drew her bow. She tried aiming at the smaller of the two but he was too fast so she tried the taller and he was always right behind Inuyasha, like he sensed her and was using him as a barrier.

Cursing under her breath she slung her bow back over her shoulder and drew her sword and ran to Inuyasha.

* * *

He was tiring, there was no way he could keep this up for much longer. He couldn't even get away to check on Kagome. He hadn't smelt her blood so he was sure she was ok. He had spotted Sango and Miroku fighting a while earlier and they were doing no better than he was. That one lucky hit by Hiraikostu had put all three on high alert and no one had been able to score a hit since. He couldn't see where they were no so the Kaze no Kizu was out of the question and he still couldn't get away to check on Kagome. 

The smaller one charged at him again and right before he could make contact with his sword, which was doing no good since their skin seemed to be as tough as some of the strongest amour there was a holy powered sword was thrust through its head with deadly precision, and he slowly melted into ash and blew away on the wind.

Inuyasha sighed in relief. Now one of them was gone and he knew Kagome was safe.

Standing side by side they stared down the last of the three. The other battling with Miroku and Sango had been distracted by the downfall of his comrade and they had taken every advantage of it. Now beheaded and twitching, Sango searched for the jewel and hid it under her shoulder pad while all turned to the last demon.

Roaring in outrage and the fact that he knew he was doomed he opened his mouth and a thick purple gas started to pour from it.

"Poisonous miasma!" Miroku called out from somewhere. The gas was thick and no one could see more than five inches beyond their face.

Kagome being able to purify without any real effort continued to search for the demon in the hopes of destroying it before the gas could spread to the village.

Without her eyesight she never saw the arm aimed to gut her.

She heard Inuyasha yell, "Kagome!" and turned to the most horrific scene she could ever witness.

* * *

Inuyasha had much better vision than any of his human friends and noticed the arm aimed for Kagome, even from the three yard distance separating them. 

Without even thinking he jumped in front of the appendage and barely registered the pain as his mind went into shock.

The demon's arm had pierced through his middle section in its haste to kill Kagome.

"Kagome!" He called out before his eyes started to drift shut. He felt a fire burning through his veins.

'Poison.' He thought before he lost complete consciousness.

Kagome beheaded the demon without even thinking before she dropped to her knees in front of Inuyasha.

Pulling his head in her lap she chanted, "Don't die, not now, don't die." Over and over. Her despair grew when he didn't respond and she let out an uncontrolled burst of holy energy with her runaway emotions. All it did was clear the air of the miasma surrounding them.

Fat tears spilled down onto his face smearing some of the blood that had dripped from his mouth. The others hurried over and huddled around him. Miroku knelt beside him and placed his hand over his heart to say a prayer when he felt a slight 'Thump, thump.'

He jumped up, "We must hurry! Go Shippo to the village and get some of the villagers to help carry him to the village." He sliced the arm from its owner careful not to pull it from Inuyasha just yet.

"No, we can't bury him yet!" Kagome cried.

"We're not going to Kagome." He helped her up with a little more force than necessary when the villagers arrived. She looked confused but her face brightened so much with his next words she nearly tackled him with joy.

"He's not dead, his heartbeat is faint but there nonetheless. If we hurry and get medical attention for him now he might make it!"

All present gave a collective sigh of relief.

If there was one thing that Inuyasha was, it was stubborn.

If there was any way that Inuyasha could upset something even something as big as Mother Nature he would find a way. He would make it through this just to brag someday about how he cheated death.

That thought brought a smile to Kagome's face.

* * *

(A/N: I should stop here, but it's my first chapter so I'll keep going I expect extra reviews for this though ; ) )

* * *

"Uggh…" Inuyasha moaned in pain. He had never felt quite this crappy before. 

What happened.

His mind started to fill in the blanks for him and he groaned this time in despair.

"Inu…Inuya…Inuyasha…" He could faintly hear someone calling out his name. He prayed that they would shut up, because it was getting on his nerves. When they continued calling his name he opened his eyes in annoyance, ready to tell them off when he regretted the action immediately. The slight movement sent shockwaves of pain shooting through his body.

Slowly he tried to open his eyes again. This time he succeeded in keeping them open only to stare into the worried face of his Kagome.

He tried to lift his hand to stroke her cheek but it refused to obey.

Distantly he heard Kagome asking him if he felt better, but he couldn't find the strength to answer her. Without even realizing it he had drifted off once again, into a dreamless sleep.

"What's wrong with him? Why isn't he getting any better?! It's been a week now." Kagome screeched.

Miroku had suspected something but decided to see how things played out before he jumped to conclusions.

But his fears came true. While he had been removing the arm from Inuyasha's gut, the arm had black blood still flowing through it. It was a strong poison, maybe stronger than Naraku's miasma. His hands burned every time he came into contact with it. It was a wonder that Inuyasha hadn't died the moment his skin had been pierced.

Half-demon or no.

The poison wasn't spreading but it was preventing him from getting better.

Sharing his suspicions with his friends he was hit from everyone in the room for withholding such information from him.

Sporting four new lumps from two young ladies, and older one and an angered fox demon he hurried to give the rest of his information.

"Ladies calm down please. I think I know of an antidote." Everyone halted in their pursuit to once again bonk him on the head. That could wait until later. They waited expectantly.

"My father had been poisoned once before by a strong demon and Master Moushin-2 had created this antidote, by mixing the Thousand Year Flower-3, with the poison of an even stronger demon. When done right the stronger poison will counterattack the poison that is already infected in the body, and the herb will battle off that poison so it leaves the body clear of all poisons."

"I've also heard it's good for colds too…" He added as an afterthought to try and lighten the mood.

It didn't work. He could tell by the death glares being given to him by all present.

"So you're sure this will work? We have to get this Thousand Year Flower and the poison of a stronger demon and you can make an antidote to cure Inuyasha."

"Hai, I'm positive, but this is some pretty potent poison if Inuyasha hasn't fought it off yet. Where could we find poison stronger than this, and then how would we attain it?"

Everyone thought hard for an answer, Inuyasha soft breathing in the background.

Shippo was the first to supply an answer. "Umm…how about Sesshomaru?"

All eyes turned to Shippo.

It was brilliant.

Sesshomaru poison could kill several bull elephants with just a drop.

But anyone close enough to know that never lived to talk about it.

It would be suicide.

"I will head out tomorrow for the flower and poison." Kagome announced.

All mouths opened, but shut with a click when she said 'alone.'

She needed to do this. Besides if she died than there would be others to take her place. She could handle her own now too.

And everyone knew that.

"The flower is in the mountains near that nice half-demon that cured Kirara poison problems, Jinenji I believe his name was," Kagome nodded to show she understood while she reached for pen and paper so that he could draw a picture of it, "but Kagome how do you plan on acquiring the poison from…him…"

"I don't know but I'll go for the flower first and figure it out on the way." She said determined.

It was crazy...

It was like asking for death.

Too bad death never scared her before.

She couldn't let Inuyasha down.

**No.**

She _**wouldn't **_let Inuyasha down.

* * *

**1-Kaze**** no ****Kizu****-Translated "Wind Scar."**

**2-Master Moushin-Miroku's 'step-father' if you will. After Miroku's father was sucked into the wind tunnel Moushin was his caretaker.**

**3-Thousand Year Flower-In episode 99 of the series ****Jaken**** is poisoned by the ****Saimyoushou**** and ****Rin**** must go and find the ****Thousand**** year flower before ****Jaken**** dies.**

**A/N: Ok people chapter one. It ****think**** my writing is much better in this chapter. I love the way this came out. Once again this is a challenge ****fic****, the author is ****Aiwendil****Amaurea**** and the label is Legerdemain.**

**Well tell me what you think!!**

**AristocraticAssassinLover**

**Peace 1**


	2. Chapter 2: Finding Him

**A/N: Hey people, your all welcomed back to the second chapter of Ulterior Motives!

* * *

**

**Ulterior Motive**

**Written By**: AristocraticAssassinLover

**Chapter 2**: Finding Him.

* * *

"Are you sure you want to go through with this Kagome-chan?" Sango sobbed, nearly in tears. Kagome nodded, not trusting herself to speak. 

"Kagome, Inuyasha's strong! He can do this by himself!! Don't go!!!" Shippo wailed, clinging to her leg. Gently she pried him off, whispering soothing words to him. Eventually he quieted down and looked to be drifting off.

After all one could only cry so strenuously for so long. He had been sobbing since he had awoken to see her pack nearly four hours ago.

"This is really what you want Kagome-sama? You know we can help." Miroku said.

"I need to do this on my own. The flower will be easy enough, but Sesshomaru…If we were all together, he would strike us down before we were even in a danger zone. At least alone I should be able to find some kind of disguise. I can do this guys, don't worry!" She tried to give the brightest smile to could for reassurance.

"You're probably right Kagome-sama. We will wait here for your return…_safe_ return. After all what good will it do if you're gone, who would bare my children?" Miroku nodded to her and gave her a smirk that truly made her smile. Sango bopped him on the head.

With tears in her eyes, she turned to the path leading out of the village, when she got to the end she gave one last look to her friends and then a glance at Kaede's hut. Making sure she remembered the picture, should anything happen. She turned on her heel and started off towards the east, heading to Jinenji's farm.

* * *

"Uggh! Stupid thorns!" Kagome huffed in frustration. She decided to she would try and take a shortcut through the forest rather than go around it like they did last time. 

But now she knew why they had gone around. The deeper into the forest you traveled the thicker the thorns. She was too far in now though, to turn back. Trudging onwards until she saw a small become of light, she nearly screamed in joy.

The only scratches she had accumulated were on her face and hands; the rest of her body was covered in a body suit, just like Sango. In fact Sango had made it; the only difference was that her armor was a deep blue, rather than pink like Sango's.

She thanked the gods that her trusty yellow backpack hadn't gotten too damaged. She had packed it with supplies for about a month, now that she was only by herself, she only packed the necessities.

Bursting out of the tree line and onto a road, she was please to find that she wasn't too far from Jinenji's, maybe another day or two on the dirt road and she would reach the village.

Right now though, she was taking a break.

Settling down under a huge tree she took out some jerky that Sango and her had made the night before. Nibbling on it she thought about the ways to get to Sesshomaru, without getting her head chopped off.

Thirty minutes later, she was no closer to a solution. Sighing in frustration she finished her current piece of beef jerky and set off again, deciding to travel until sunset.

* * *

"We should go after her Miroku! We can't really let her do this by herself!" Sango argued quietly. It was late in the night but neither her nor Miroku, could sleep knowing their best friend was out there somewhere all by herself. 

Not that they didn't think she couldn't handle herself. Never that, she was probably a better fighter now than all of the friends put together. She was handy with a sword, bow, staff…it was just, that she was always surrounded by people. How long would she last in the complete silence with only herself for company?

Even if she managed to get the flower and join up with Sesshomaru, what about the jewel shards? Now that she was on her own there was no one to protect her from the evil clutches of that damned half-breed. If he shows up with the usual five puppets and an incarnation...

Kagome was screwed.

"Sango, dear you have to calm down. Kagome will be fine." He assured her. "No! If you will not go after her, than I will alone." She shot back.

Miroku sighed. "How about this Sango, we give her a week head start and then we can go and check up on her. If she's in any danger, we'll drag her back. But if she's fine we continue the hunt for the jewel shards and then come back to check up on Inuyasha. I'm positive that he will not get any better for now, but the poison has stopped spreading. He will feel like hell until we get the antidote, we should keep him company for as long as possible. Besides Naraku probably knows he's down. Don't you think that he would do something cowardly and attack the village, if we weren't here?" Sango opened her mouth to retort, but found that everything he said made sense. Agreeing to his plan even if she didn't like it, she propped herself up in a corner of Kaede's hut, hoping to get some sleep.

* * *

Kagome rose with the sun and packed her small blanket that she had brought to sleep on. It was late spring nearly summer, so the weather was pretty warm, most of the time. 

Yawning and complaining about how the sun needed to take a day off and let the moon stay up for a couple more hours she put out her small fire, and set off towards Jinenji's village.

About three hours of completely calm traveling, Kagome ran into trouble.

"You are the girl that travels with the half-breed, what are you doing on my lands?" The demon said.

Kagome could only look on with girlish glee. She was not usually the type of girl to drool all over the opposite sex, but this demon was definitely on the top five most handsome males ever created. His waist length dark brown hair surrounding a beautiful naturally tanned face, his eyes were a deep earthly green, the two complimenting each other perfectly. He had a perfectly proportioned nose and wide sensual lips. His body was draped his mountains of green silk, ranging from pale to dark, but one could still see how broad his shoulders were, and his narrow waist. He was the epitome of the word gorgeous. The only one to ever be _beautiful_ was possible Sesshomaru, but he didn't count because of his 'look at me and die' personality.

Kagome's mind had shut down and went to girl heaven, content to just stare at him.

"Girl, you test my patience. What are you doing on my lands?" He growled out. Kagome snapped out of it at the viscous sound.

"Oh, I'm sorry it was just…never mind, what was your question?" She asked as innocently as she could. The demon was starting to get angry and his jaki was rolling off him in waves, and it was strong. She was definitely at the disadvantage in this situation.

The demon took a couple menacing steps forward. "I will only repeat myself once more, What. Are. You. Doing. On. My. Lands?"

"I was heading to a village to gather some herbs for my friend. Why am I causing trouble or something? In fact who are you to ask?" Kagome replied.

Stunned that the girl didn't know who he was, he decided to be a little more lenient on her. "I am Lord Ryo of the North, and you are currently on my lands. You will hurry and get what you need and then leave." He turned to walk away but she called out,

"Hey wait, why do have to rush?!" He denied her an answer and continued on his way. After a few steps he took to the skies.

"Argh! Stupid demons and their stupid egos! He probably wants me gone because my hair is prettier than his!!" She screamed to let her frustrations out knowing it was completely untrue, but it made her feel better nonetheless. After all he didn't give her an answer so that gave the right to assume anything.

Kicking a rock on the road, she continued onto Jinenji's village, grumbling about stupid demons and their pretty hair the whole way.

* * *

Lord Ryo heard her little outburst even from the distance separating them. He cracked a small smile. 

He wanted to girl off his lands because she had better hair than him.

That was most definitely the reason, she was so observant…humans…

The real reason is because there had been numerous reports of a young human girl carrying shards of that blasted jewel, and on top of that she had the eyes to find the rest of it. Demons in surrounding village and even some of them at his home, had been talking about capturing the girl and using her. One pair had even fought amongst themselves because both of them had wanted the girl, for…reasons…and wanted to be the first to get her.

He had lost a soldier over this silly girl. But technically she didn't do anything directly that warrants a punishment so there was nothing he could do. She was hardly a threat. He knew she was a miko but she wasn't going around purifying everything that walks so he was fine with that. All she wanted was some herbs.

But still the sooner she was off his lands the better.

He got about a mile from her before curiosity got the better of him.

How would a girl like her survive out here by herself? Times were not as bad as the used to be, but still pretty dangerous. Especially to young girls like herself. She had a sword at her hip and a pair of arrows and a bow. But how well could she use them in an actual battle.

Doubling back he decided he would keep an eye on this girl.

At least for a little while.

* * *

Kagome sighed as she slipped down into the hot spring. 

She had traveled all day and had not come across another demon, or human for that matter. But she wasn't complaining.

She was only about a half a day from Jinenji's village. She made excellent time when not having to stop to battle demons every half hour, like when she was with Inuyasha.

Why was that exactly? She was alone, with jewel shards and only a small sword and a bow to defend herself with and she had not come into contact with any hostile demons at all. Only that one Lord Ryo and he just wanted to get rid of her, not fight. But when traveling with all the others demons came at them left and right. There were four great fighters and two little helpers and still the demons just kept coming. If that happened now… she let out a little shiver despite the hot temperature of the water.

Hopefully this stroke of luck wouldn't break for some time.

Washing quickly and then drying and dressing in her sleeping gear, she laid down on the blanket she had spread out earlier. She didn't bother to start a fire, it was still warm and she was just too tired. Closing her eyes she counted to ten, preparing herself for tomorrow but only made it to five before she was out cold.

* * *

Kagome woke up warm and refreshed to the early morning sun. She wondered why her back was warmer than the rest of her. Looking over her shoulder she saw that there was a small fire burning, as if it were made hours ago and never rekindled but still it was a fire. 

She didn't start it.

She was traveling with anyone, so it's not like a friend started it…

She jumped up and took stock of her surroundings. There was nothing out of the ordinary.

Then she felt it. Like someone was watching her. She had felt it all of yesterday too right after Lord Ryo had left, but chalked it up to nerves. After all nobody wants to be in the presence of such a strong demon for too long, never knowing if they're going to strike you down because you where annoying them.

Not like you would know until it was over.

Deciding that the eyes must be friendly, she called out,

"Thank you! I probably would have been cold without the fire. It was nice of you to make one for me!" She turned and went behind a tree dressing in her fighting gear as quickly as she could because she couldn't tell exactly which directions the eyes were watching her from.

Once she was finished she ate a couple more pieces of jerky, stuffed the rest in her bag and continued on her way. If she walked fast she would be there before noon.

* * *

Lord Ryo was surprised at the show of gratitude. He had started the fire when the moon was high in the sky because the weather was cooling and she was dressed in such a thin pieces of cloth. The way she shivered, like she was nothing but a little child. Something sparked inside of him and compelled him to make the fire. Once it was roaring he leapt back into the trees. He watched with satisfaction as her shivers ceased and she calmed once more. 

There was something about this girl.

At first glance she looked to be weak and pathetic with her big eyes, and peaceful expression. But she stood her ground against him and even questioned him. Then he leaves with the impression that she's nothing but a rude, insolent, little brat. But then she thanks him…well she didn't exactly know it was him, but the gratitude shown was unexpected.

There was definitely more to this girl than first expected.

He would have to study her closer; after all maybe she could turn out to be a threat to him and his lands.

* * *

Kagome walked in silence, counting her steps to keep herself busy. Jinenji's hut was about a half hour away. With her being so close to the flower and excited to greet her long time friend, the speed at which she was walking was so slow to her. But she didn't want to run and tire herself out. 

Walking at a steady speed her thoughts raced through her mind.

Most of them concerning, Sesshomaru.

How would she hide from him, long enough to get the poison?

How long could she keep that disguise up?

What if Sesshomaru figured out who she was?

How was she going to even _find_ him? He could be anywhere in Japan.

Even if she did find him, _how _was she going to get the poison from his claws without actually going near them?

What was she going to hold the poison _in_?

Because the kamis know she was going to attempt every possibility before approaching those sharp claws.

Before she knew it she was standing at Jinenji's door step.

* * *

"Hey Jinenji!!" The startled half-demon looked up and nearly jumped through the roof that was only inches above his head. Recognizing who it was, he let a bright smile grace his features. 

"Kagome, how have you and your friends been?" When he saw her crestfallen face he quickly backtracked to remember what he had said wrong.

"Inuyasha's not doing so well Jinenji…I have come to find this herb," she handed the drawing Miroku had made for her to him, "so can you tell me where to find it?" He shook his head.

"Kagome, this plant grows in the ravine north of here, but it is filled with all types of demons. Without your friends to protect you I fear the worst. I beg you not to go," at the determined look in his eyes he continued, "at least wait a couple of days. I need to finish this paste for some of the more elderly people in the village for their pains and then, I can dedicate a whole day to helping you get the plant."

"No thanks Jinenji, I can't wait this is urgent. I sure I can handle myself now. Thanks for offering though." She flashed him a bright smile and then turned heel and headed out the door.

"Jinenji, my boy who was that?" An older lady asked her son.

"A very brave girl." He answered. His mother would worry and go after the girl if he told her who she really was.

Besides she said she could handle herself. And she had multiple weapons.

So there was nothing to worry about.

Right?

* * *

Walking down the rapidly declining slope into the ravine she looked around for the herb. 

With a loud cry of, 'AH HA! There you are!' she spotted the herb about halfway up the wall of rock.

Stopping directly under the herb, she looked up. It had to be at least twenty yards up.

Sighing to herself she reached up as far as she could and felt around for something sturdy to hoist herself up on. Finding at small ledge jutting out she pulled herself up.

Thirty minutes later found Kagome sweating profusely and still five yards away from her goal. Grabbing onto another ledge and starting to climb the rock gave out and broke from the wall tumbling from the wall to land of the ground below.

Now hanging by one arm she searched for another rock. Grabbing onto a small piece of rock, she felt a small tremble in the rock she was leaning against. Gripping tightly she waited it out. Climbing another three yards, she felt it again. This time though a swarm of demons burst through the ground that was so far below her and she cursed aloud in frustration.

A demon looking much like a saimyoushou broke free from the herd and flew up towards her, its poisonous tail poised for attack.

Grumbling she used every last muscle to propel herself upwards and grab the herb, pulling it from its resting place. She then kicked off the wall and pulled her sword free from the sheath and embedded it in the skull of the bug demon. Then kicking off the from the demon's body and pulling her sword free, she aimed for the wall of rock.

Plunging it into the rock she jerked to a stop and sighed in relief.

Looking down she guessed she was about twenty feet off the ground. Yanking her sword from the wall she dropped the rest of the way down.

Right into the center of demons that crowded around her snarling and hissing the whole time.

* * *

A royal figure stood at the top at the ravine. 

'Now I wonder how is she going to get out of there.'

He watched her stare down the group of demons and then his eyes widened as he saw a burst of bright pink light erupt from the small girl. Closing his eyes until it faded he was surprised to see not a hint of any of the demons.

She had disintergrated them all with minimal effort. He stood there for a moment longer and then took off. He was going to do some more research on this girl.

Besides she didn't attack anything if not provoked.

But, this girl was definitely a threat.

* * *

Kagome grumbled to herself about 'having to use up precious energy stores, because stupid demons can't find someone else to pick on.' 

She didn't feel tired or even fatigued after such powerful outflow of energy, but every drop she used before she met up with Sesshomaru, was every drop she wouldn't have if a confrontation broke out.

Energy she would definitely need.

Walking back up the path to Jinenji's home, she stopped at the edge of his herb field. Debating whether she should go and say that she was alright and got the flower, she decided that it was getting late and it wasn't worth the chance of waking them up.

Turning tail and heading into the surrounding forest, she walked until she found a small clearing perfect for camp. Stuffing the herb she had held on to with a death grip into her trustly yellow pack, she decided to forgo the fire and lay down using that ungodly colored backpack as her pillow.

Soon enough she was off into the land of dreams.

* * *

"No Hakaru! I'm telling you this man was a demon!!" 

"He didn't look like a demon; he was just a rogue samurai. He looked as human as any one of us. You're overreacting. We should have never run from the village!" Kagome woke up to the sounds of two men arguing not far from her in the bushes.

Getting up and stumbling over to them she called out,

"Hey some of us are trying to sleep!" She growled.The men took a step back not expecting anyone else to be in the area.

"We're so sorry miss." He muttered.

"Why apologize, she's a demon. Just like the one that came to our village,"

"Shut up Hakaru!" Kagome's ear perked up at the mention of a demon.

"No let him talk. What did he look like?" She asked.

"Well he was kinda tall, with long wavy hair, and the most ferocious looking red eyes I have ever seen." He described a finger to his chin to help him think.

"Was he wearing purple robes, with funny looking armor?" Kagome asked, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"Now that you mention it, yeah he was." She gazed off into the distance.

"Where is the village you were talking about?" She asked suddenly.

"To the east of here. Straight down this forest path until you reach a road, turn right, then it's only about ten minutes from there." She nodded to them, picked up her pack and then sprinted through the trees towards the village.

"I wonder what that was about." The elder of the two men stated.

"I told you she was a demon." The younger replied.

"Hakaru," The older one started,

"Yeah?"

"Shut up."

* * *

Kagome jerked to a stop in front of the probably once prosperous now demolished village. 

The place looked it had been burnt to the ground. Kagome knew her suspicions were correct as she could still smell the poisonous miasma still circulating through the area.

"Hey is anyone here still alive!!" She called out.

No response.

Looking around she couldn't even find bodies, only skeletons. The miasma had most likely melted the skin right off their bodies. Saying a prayer for them she looked inside some of the huts. While still in a hut she heard the voice of the one person she was looking for.

"Jaken, scour the area, inform me of any survivors." He commanded his voice full of ice and disgust. Even still Jaken went off to do as bid, without any complaints.

Sesshomaru had smelled the horrendous half-breed a mile away, but still wasn't here in time. Supressing his anger he ordered Jaken off, his presence was grating on his nerves. Besides survivors could provide him with the necessary information.

Kagome sidled up to the wall of the inside of the hut. What was she going to do now? She wasn't prepared for this! She hadn't expected to find him for many more days, giving her plenty of time to think of something. She could always follow him until she came up with something, but he would probably find out.

Things would get really ugly, really fast.

Trying to peak around the doorway to see how close to her they were she nearly stepped on Jaken, who had come in the hut to search.

Holding her breath as he kicked around some of the bones, she sighed in relief as she seemed to be in a dark corner in the room. He turned and walked right past her, mumbling about how all humans reek.

Stomping down the urge to punt the little kappa demon into the 21st century, she took a deep calming breath through her nose.

Her exhale consisted of a sharp sneeze.

Jaken turned immediately, and spotted her.

"You human, follow me." He ordered and then walked out of the hut. When he realized she wasn't going anywhere he turned back and leveled a steely glare on her.

She was unfazed.

"Why don't you try asking nicely, you'll get more bees with honey, than vinegar." She suggested.

"I will do no such thing. You will obey my orders or there will be serious consequences." He huffed.

"No I will do nothing until I get the respect I deserve!" She argued. He took an offensive stance with his staff, but before he could do anything she kicked it right out of his hands. Bending down, she lifted him up by the feet and walked out into the sunshine.

"You toad, will now obey my orders, and apologize, or you will be severely sorry." She shook him a little to prove her point.

"Release my retainer." Kagome froze and looked up from Jaken to see Sesshomaru calmly staring her down. Quickly dropping the small demon she addressed him,

"Lord Sesshomaru, what can I help you with today?"

"That's right puny human, we are your superiors. Now that you recognize this, go and get my staff that you kicked." Jaken said in a haughty tone and then crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her.

She calmly gazed back and then replied,

"Recognize this." She said and then kicked him in the side, deep into the hut.

"Get your own damn staff!!" She yelled after him.

"Such a temper for someone of your stature." Sesshomaru stated. Kagome whirled around and stuck an accusing finger near his face.

"Now listen here buddy, I will not stand for your smug attitude. You will treat me with respect, or I'll kick your butt!" She said, huffing and puffing trying to keep her temper in check.

When he took a couple threatening steps forward, her anger deflated, now truly realizing the danger she was in.

She really needed to keep her mouth shut.

"L-look I'm really sorry. I was just really angry. You know how that is right? Well maybe not since you never seem angry. But you must feel emotions right…" She was rambling she knew it, but once she started she couldn't stop.

"You sound as if you know me. I do not remember meeting you before." He said his voice filled with a minuscule less ice, hinting at his confusion.

Kagome did a happy little dance in her head. If he didn't recognize who she was then he wouldn't hold the relationship she had with his half-brother over her head. Although it was weird that he didn't remember her. Although whenever he had seen her, she was always fighting with Inuyasha and the others.

There was also the fact that she was wearing her ridiculously short school uniform during those times.

He probably didn't remember her, because she wasn't an actual threat to him. The only time she had directly attacked him, was when she had shot that arrow at him, the second time she saw him.

Besides right now as far as she was concerned, she had never _ever_ met anyone by the name of Inuyasha.

Deciding to play innocent, she concocted up a story.

"Well the tales of you are known to all. They never once mention you losing your perfect control," she started but was interrupted.

"You are lying to me." He stated calmly. She couldn't tell if he was mad or anything.

That was not a good thing.

"Hehe…No I'm not…" She looked around nervously.

"I can detect lies, that and the fact that your heartbeat has tripled its normal pace." He said just as calmly. Kagome looked down at her feet. She would never see him move to kill her anyway. Her shoes were nice it wouldn't be so bad if they were the last thing she saw before she died…

"You are coming with me." He declared suddenly.

Kagome gasped and Jaken started hyperventilating.

"Milord you can't be serious! Another human?! Please milord don't be rash…"

"Jaken, shut up." Sesshomaru commanded and Jaken looked down in defeat.

He turned back to Kagome,

"I am not finished with you, but there are other things I must attend to. You will come with me until I find your presence no longer useful." She opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind, but it snapped closed at the glare that he gave her .

Grumbling she grabbed her pack that she had dropped and slung it around her shoulders. She wasn't really mad about having to go with Sesshomaru. In fact it was a perfect setup. He didn't know who she was, and she didn't have to fight with him or anything, so as long as she kept a low profile and stayed useful there had to be some way to get that poison.

But she had to keep up with appearances.

Following Sesshomaru out of the village, giving on last look and prayer to those that had fallen victim to the evil hanyou she let a smile grace her lips.

She couldn't have had a better day.

"Stupid…disrespectful…disgusting…" She could hear Jaken mumbling behind her. The smile disappeared with the newly found anger.

"Shut up Jaken." Sesshomaru called back coldly.

The smile was back.

* * *

**A/N: Finally it's out. Thank you so much fanged falcon!! I had never gotten a review on my first chapter before and now I have. Little.Neko.Child thank you too, but you're my best friend so you don't count ; ) ****Fanged Falcon you have been faithful to ****every one**** of my stories and I love you so much for that! Well finally I'm finished I had trouble with this chapter but hopefully it's good. I worked my butt off to finish it today, because I had an off day from my hectic basketball schedule. That's mostly the reason I don't update. I wrote some odd 4800 words in one sitting. Gosh do I have a hand cramp or what. LOL So I guess just read and review if you like…Until next time,**

**AristocraticAssassinLover**

**Peace 1**


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